title: Correlation of the Osteogenic Protein-1 (OP-1) with Age, Cartilage metabolic Markers and Antioxidants in the Osteoarthritic Patients of Sikkim.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Age and oxidative stress have been implicated as the main causes of the cartilage damage in osteoarthritis (OA). The osteogenic protein-1(OP-1), a member of the bone morphogenetic family (BMP), plays a major role in cartilage repair.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To correlate the OP-1 in the synovial fluid with the age and antioxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and uric acid (UA) in the blood and with the cartilage metabolic markers like hyaluronic acid (HA) and keratan sulphate (KS) in the synovial fluid of osteoarthritic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy five osteoarthritic patients were taken up for the study. Heparinized blood samples were collected for the estimation of SOD, GPx and UA. Synovial fluid was aspirated for the estimation of HA, KS and OP-1. OP-1 was estimated by using a polyclonal antibody (anti-OP-1) which was produced against OP-1 in the mouse ascitic fluid by sandwich ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age and UA showed a significant correlation with OP-1. On the other hand, the correlations between OP-1 and the antioxidants (SOD and GPx) and the cartilage metabolic markers (HA and KS) were insignificant in osteoarthritic patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study suggests about the important role of OP-1 in cartilage aging and degeneration, which may help us in understanding the potential for the therapeutic interventions in the treatment of cartilage degenerative processes.
authors.affiliation: Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences , Gangtok-737102, Sikkim, India .
authors.forename: Sonam Choden
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bhutia
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Mingma Lhamu
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Sherpa
keywords: Antioxidants; Cartilage metabolic markers; Osteogenic protein-1